Mark Williams

The Proper Mental Podcast

Welcome to episode 171 with Mark Williams, who is an author, speaker and international campaigner for father’s mental health.

Mark suffered with PTSD and depression after the birth of his son and he suffered in silence for many years while trying to support his wife who was also struggling with her mental health and they were both in at crisis point at the same time.

He is an incredibly active campaigner for parental mental health and has appeared on national radio and television, founded International Father’s Mental Health Day and published 5 books, one of which was made in to a short film by Amazon Prime. And he has also been voted Inspirational Father of the year and local hero at the Pride of Britain Awards.

In this episode I chat to Mark about becoming a dad, how that impacted him mentally, and how he and his wife supported each other through that time when they were both struggling.

We chat about some of the things that can impact new parents and some of the reasons why dads can struggle and we look at how these issues can show up and play out and look at a few things that can be done to help.

We also chat about growing up in a rural area, how working-class people are often forgotten about in mental health advocacy and why community is so important to health.

Follow Mark on social media @

For more info head to How are you Dad, his newest book is available everywhere now!

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Thanks for listening!